Outdoor barbeque grill units are very popular and produced in a variety of configurations. These units include the well known brickette accepting type grill and gas or propane powered units.
Commonly, these grill units are constructed to be self contained, small and portable. The unit includes a stand which supports a grill housing, such as a metal casing. The housing, in turn, houses one or more burners and supporting racks. Generally, the housing includes a lid which may be opened to provide access to the interior, including the racks. The lid may be closed during cooking to retain the heat in the housing. Often, these grill units are mounted on wheels to allow the user to easily move the grill when it is not in use.
In order to increase the functionality of these units, they are offered with side burners, warming trays, storage areas and the like. This, of course, increases the size and complexity of the unit. This makes the units difficult to move and more difficult to construct.
More commonly, homeowners now desire custom “islands” which include grills and associated amenities. In some instances, homeowners still desire that the unit be movable. More frequently, homeowners desire that the unit be “built-in” or stationary. In either event, these homeowners generally desire that their grill have the appearance that the grill is more of a furnishing or structure, rather than a stand-alone appliance.
Various parties have sought to meet the needs of these homeowners. Instead of mounting grills upon simple legs or a stand, grills are mounted to cabinet structures. Generally, these cabinet structures comprise a framed box upon which the grill and associated components are mounted, the framed box also providing for interior storage space. There are several problems with this approach. First, these grill units are generally mass produced, each having the same configuration and dimensions. This does not allow a homeowner to request a “custom” unit having either specific features or a specific configuration or size. Second, various constraints limits the size of these units. In particular, these units can not be very large because they must be transported to the homeowner and installed at their home. The size and weight of the unit must be constrained to permit transport of the unit, including its passage through doorways and other structures and the home.
In other instances, the barbeque grill island or cabinet structure may be constructed where it is intended to be used. Generally, this entails the building of a wood frame structure, application of an outer finish, and installation of grill elements. This has the significant disadvantage that each unit must be custom created, greatly increasing the time and cost of the unit as compared to where the unit is pre-constructed only in a few configurations.
In addition, whether of the pre-constructed or custom-constructed configuration, these structures all suffer from a number of drawbacks. For example, a homeowner desiring a particular grill configuration can not see that configuration before it is created. Instead, the homeowner must communicate their desires to the builder and then wait and hope that the finished product, after being custom created, appears as desired.
Besides the supporting island or cabinet structure these types of grill, present grills suffer from a number of other problems. One problem relates to grill handles. As indicated, barbeque grills include lid which may be opened and closed. Because the lid is part of the grill housing, it becomes very hot during grill use. One or more handles are generally connected to the lid for use in opening and closing the lid.
Commonly, the handle is made of wood. A wood handle has the advantage that is does not transmit heat readily, allowing it to be gripped by a user even when the grill lid is very hot. A problem with such handles, however, is that if exposed to the weather, as is common for outdoor grills, the handle will weather and deteriorate. To avoid this problem, may grills are constructed with a metal handle. However, these handles often become too hot to touch, especially with newer grills having multiple burners and higher heat.
Another problem relates to grill burners. It is desired that the grill burner distribute heat and flame evenly over a large area. As grills and their associated burners have become larger, this goal has not been met with current burner configurations. Generally, the length of these burners is such that the gas pressure at areas close to the source is much higher than areas remote from the source, causing the generation of much higher flame and heat in one area than the other.
Many grills now include warming trays. These trays are platforms which may be located towards the top of the interior of the grill. Food items which a user desires to warm, rather than cook, may be located on the tray. These trays are often difficult to use. Among other things, food often gets pushed or rolls off of these trays. The food then falls to the grill below, where it is burned.
It is desired to provide a barbeque grill overcoming these and other problems.